Monday, August 30, 2010

Judgements

I'm human...and judgemental. There have been a few occasions lately where I have judged a book by it's cover and have been pleasantly reminded of my erroneous ways. One such occurrence took place the other day as I was heading to the park. Luna decided not to take her morning nap, so I threw her in the car (not literally, but I felt like it at the time) to go to Manito Park. She fell asleep just as I arrived, such is the fate of parenthood, so I stopped by a bakery a neighbor told us about. As I parked out front a woman exited her car looking as if she thought she was in LA instead of Spokane. She was an attractive older woman with a mini-dress on and high heels, way out of my Bellingham-tennis shoe-loving league. I judged. What is she wearing? Who does she think she is? Come on...this is Spokane! I ran inside to buy a coffee while keeping an eye on the car to make sure no one kidnapped Luna. The woman asked if I was in line, I told her my situation and she asked what car was mine and directed her 11 year old to sit outside and watch my child/car until I got back. How amazingly nice! She told me she had 3 kids and understood the situation completely. What a wonderful smack in the face. Aside from the lesson learned, it also reminds me of the fact that it takes a village. We are all in the same boat and could all use a helping hand once and awhile. Gig is reading a book about sex that read about in Savage Love in The Stranger (how I miss drinking margaritas at Casa Que Pasa while reading The Stranger). At this point he would quickly correct me by saying that it's about community, not sex..but the word sex is actually in the title. Anyhow, he is feeling like he lacks community. The book discusses how when we were hunter/gatherers, people relied on one another, they lacked the sense of ownership of their things, their woman, their land. With agriculture came a more distant society, you owned your land, your children, your women, your tractor. Their was less of a community and more of a sense of fending for yourself. I believe the American culture continues to further this sense of separatism. We were trying to define our own community which is sorely lacking. We have a few neighbors that I feel watch out for us and we trade goodies over the fence (salmon from Anne Marie, Tortillas from Dan....yep, they get zucchini in return). I feel a true sense of family with my dear friend Steph, but she's in Vermont. Gig and I do tend to keep to ourselves, we have always enjoyed a few good friends than a slew of acquaintances, but do we have community? We've never seen ourselves as having many friends, but I remember how in awe I was after having Luna and people came out of the woodwork to provide us with meals and a helping hand. I don't think a community has to be dear friends, I just think it requires a mutual concern for humankind. Once again, "it takes a village". I am hoping to foster this kind of community here in Spokane. Oh, cute pictures from the park: